From the Week of March 9, 2000

In How to Overthrow the Government, rightist turned populist Arianna Huffington says that poverty and political reform are the primary moral issues today: "The economic boom of the 90s has masked a looming political crisis: a corrupt political system that auctions off public policy to the highest bidder, and leaves the overwhelming majority of Americans feeling alienated from their own government. . . . It's hard to escape the notion that the United States has been torn in two -- divided between a moneyed elite getting rich from insider deals and globalization and an increasing number of citizens left choking on the dust of Wall Street's galloping bulls."

McCain's current advocacy of political reform tends to mask his traditional Republican and plutocratic economic views that would exacerbate conditions for the bottom 50 percent of the population. However, congrats to McCain for making a start; most political leaders, including Jack Rose, don't have a clue.